The Mayor of Casterbridge: Chapter 34 Summary & Analysis

The next morning, Elizabeth-Jane rises early and meets Farfrae as he leaves his house. She says that she has something to tell him about Henchard and did not want to alarm Lucetta by calling at the house. She says that she fears Henchard will insult or harm Farfrae in some way. Farfrae’s reaction is one of disbelief. He does not suppose that the poor man in his employ with whom, he believes, he gets on well would do him any actual injury.

Elizabeth-Jane leaves Farfrae, unhappy that she has not been able to impress upon him the seriousness of the situation. Farfrae does not forget the conversation, however, and he knows from Elizabeth-Jane’s serious character that she would not make such a warning lightly. Later that day, Farfrae meets the town clerk about his kind plan to set Henchard up in a new shop. The clerk, Lawyer Joyce, tells Farfrae that others see what he does not: how deeply Henchard hates him.

Farfrae feels obligated to keep Henchard in his employ, as the man was his friend for so long, but he decides to give up on securing him the new shop. He tells the owner of the shop that the plan has changed, and the owner then tells Henchard that a plan of the council’s to set Henchard up in the shop was struck down by Farfrae.

When Farfrae returns home that evening, he is visibly troubled. He confesses to Lucetta that he is worried about and confused by Henchard’s hatred of him. He says that he cannot understand why Henchard feels so strongly about the situation, saying that he acts as if they are in an old-fashion rivalry of love, rather than a small trade rivalry. Lucetta, pale, wonders what he has heard, but he assures her that the situation is not all that bad. Lucetta says she wishes he would seriously consider her plan of moving elsewhere.

Farfrae and Lucetta are discussing this plan when the current mayor, a Mr. Vatt, arrives at their house. He shares the news of the previous mayor Chalkfield’s death. Mr. Vatt offers Farfrae his seat on the council, and Farfrae accepts, despite Lucetta’s reminder that they were discussing moving away.

Lucetta is very troubled from that evening onward. Imprudently, she asks Henchard when she next encounters him about the parcel of love letters she had sent him and then asked him to return to her. He recalls packing them up and then not seeing her on the coach through Casterbridge. Lucetta says she was prevented from arriving at that time by the death of her wealthy aunt, and wishes to have the letters returned to her.

Henchard later realizes that the letters are most likely still in a safe in his old home, where Lucetta and Farfrae now live. Henchard is already furious about his mistaken information on Farfrae’s willful end to the plan to give him the seed shop when he learns that Farfrae has been elected to the council. The next day, he asks Farfrae about a package of letters left in the safe, which Farfrae says he has not opened.

Henchard calls the next evening to pick up the papers from the safe, having had some alcohol beforehand to prepare himself. He inquires after Lucetta and learns she is already in bed. Henchard asks Farfrae if he remembers the woman who had once been interested in Henchard, but whom he could not marry after Susan returned. Henchard indicates that the letters are from this woman and reads some of the writing aloud to Farfrae. Farfrae asks what has become of the woman, and Henchard says she has married well, saving him from any guilt upon seeing her letters. Henchard had intended to read the name at the end of the letters aloud and so reveal the truth that way, but in the moment he finds he cannot hurt both Farfrae and Lucetta in cold blood.